FUE with Dr. Cole - 670 grafts, CRP+Acell, Follicular Stem Cells

I’ve wanted to have my thinning hair fixed for years, but the cost was always an obstacle. Finally took the plunge for my birthday this year. I visited several transplant specialists in the Atlanta area; and waded through a great many reviews, blogs, and hair transplant forums before choosing to go with Dr. Cole based on his stellar reputation.
Man am I ever glad I made the choice to go with Dr. Cole! The doctor is a very down-to-earth guy and was very honest about cost and likely results of different treatments. His staff were attentive and very professional and friendly. I can’t recommend Dr. Cole highly enough - the results are outstanding. I’m starting this review to help others make an informed choice.

The surgery itself wasn’t all that painful. The doctor and his staff took great care to thoroughly anesthesize the scalp before they started. The doctor’s staff took lots of density measurements of potential donor areas, while the doctor supervised in the room. The doctor chose four donor areas based on highest density measurements. Dr. Cole marked the donor areas and started clipping them; his staff then finished trimming the donor areas while he was in and out of the room.

For cost reason, I chose to do only the front area from the forelock back to the crown or vertex of the skull. I wasn’t able to do the entire building area at once, and the doctor told me that would give me the best overall appearance for the dollar. Now that I’ve had a few days to see the results and have had several people comment on it, I think he was right. His experience really made the difference here - I initially wanted to cover the whole balding area evenly, but this is a much better result. You definitely can’t see the curvature of the skull through the hair when lit from behind, like you could before the surgery.

Dr. Cole removed all the donor hairs, made all incisions in the recipient area, and placed all of grafts the near the hairline & crown of the skull. His staff placed most of the rest while he periodically checked their progress. I appreciated that Dr. Cole did all of the grafts that most impact the finished appearance of the hair and monitored all the rest; since most doctors have their staff do all the graft placement. It was nice to see that he gave so much attention to the process.

The doctor and his staff were very careful with the anesthesia, and there was no pain at all during the surgery. I did feel pressure and some discomfort but no real pain.

Dr. Cole prescribed several days worth of antibiotics and enough pain killer to last 3-4 days. I didn’t need all the pain killers, my scalp was very uncomfortable the evening of the surgery and for a day or two after but then was fine. The pills completely eliminated any pain. A nurse friend of mine told me the trick to this is to not wait for the pain to start before you begin taking the pills; but take one a little while after you get home and then keep on the regular cycle per prescription directions for 2 to 3 days after the surgery. I followed her directions and there was no pain at all. So for anyone who’s hesitant due to concerns about pain - don’t let that hold you back.

The donor and recipient areas are red, tender, and a little irritated. I’m pretty sleepy. No or very minor pain thanks to the medication Dr. Cole prescribed. There was some swelling in the recipient area. Some of the transplant hairs have formed scabs. No hair fallout or shock loss. No bleeding in the donor area. I applied bacitracin ointment in the donor area, and kept the recipient area wet using the post-op saline spray and biotin spray. I resumed taking biotin pills today. Did not wash the hair today because that’s not recommended for 48 hours following CRP+Acell treatment; but I did rinse the areas that were not involved in the operation with lukewarm water. Took it easy and no exercise, kept the head raised and didn’t do anything that might raise blood pressure. Worked from home.